At
BC, protests of Rice muted*
War critics' views aired, but honoree avoids talk of Iraq
By
Sarah Schweitzer and Catherine Elton, Globe Staff and Globe
Correspondent
May
23, 2006
NEWTON—Outside
Boston College's graduation ceremonies yesterday, some 200
protesters chanted, "Shame, shame!" and "Give her a
subpoena, not a degree, for crimes against humanity!"
But inside the school's football stadium, as Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice, the focus of the protest, took the
podium, most students and parents listened with rapt
attention.
 After
a high-profile ramp-up to the ceremony, including an
impassioned outcry from some faculty and students, the
graduation passed uneventfully, with no arrests and no
evictions from Alumni Stadium. There was applause as Rice's
name was called, and more clapping in response to her
remarks about triumphing over segregation's restrictions in
her native South. Her speech was pointedly noncontroversial—devoid
of policy statements, with only a tangential mention of Iraq
as she spoke of the need for graduates to remain optimistic.
"I know how hard it can be these days, when
we see images of genocide in Darfur or violence in Iraq or
destruction along our own Gulf Coast, to believe that such a
thing of human progress is possible. . . ." she said. ``But
in moments like these, draw solace from education and also
from historical perspective."
Protests inside the stadium took a gentle
form: About 50 of the 3,200 students seated on the stadium
floor turned their backs and held up placards denouncing the
war as Rice received an honorary doctorate of law. Some 200
faculty did the same, according to a count by faculty
members. Approximately 30,000 people attended the
commencement, according to BC police.
The protest under cloudless skies on the
Catholic campus, which has been riven by debate over
abortion and gay and lesbian rights this year, was quiet out
of respect for the secretary of state rather than from any
lack of passionate opposition to the war, some students
said.
"I'm not happy about
her speaking and I don't support her policies," said William
Kozaites, 21, an English major from Los Angeles. "But it's
important to hear what she has to say."
Other students said protest had no place at
the ceremony, and they lamented that Rice's presence
required BC to use security guards and metal detectors,
saying that marred the event regardless of the demonstrators
.
"It shouldn't be about protesting," said
Maggie Hurley, 22, a graduate of the school of education.
"It should be about celebrating our accomplishments."
Her friend Tiana Baker , 21, also a school of
education graduate, nodded in agreement. "She's a successful
woman and we should leave the other matters aside for now
because as a school, we are honoring her."
In her speech, Rice exhorted students to find
a passion and pursue it. She advised them to use reason and
compassion in navigating life and to work to advance human
progress. The crowd responded enthusiastically when Rice
described her upbringing as an emblem of triumph over
pessimism.
"I grew up in Birmingham, Ala., the
Birmingham of Bull Connor and the Ku Klux Klan, a place that
was once quite properly described as the most segregated
city in America. I know how it feels to hold aspirations
when half your neighbors think that you're incapable or
uninterested in anything higher," said Rice, the first
African-American woman to hold her office.
Some afterward said Rice's speech was
uplifting.
"I
may not believe 100 percent of the things she endorses, but
I have to respect her position," said Vesta Rand, a parent
of a graduate from Yarmouth, Maine.
Carol Hurd Green, an
adjunct English professor, who stood with her back to Rice
during the conferral of the honorary degree, disagreed,
saying the speech was fatally flawed.
"It was missing the
words peace and justice," she said.
Sasha Westerman ,
22, of Swampscott, who wore an armband protesting Rice's
degree, said the speech was not offensive, but "I would have
rather not heard from her at all."
Outside the stadium, the scene was raucous,
but much of those protests went unnoticed and unheard in the
wind-whipped stadium.
Peace activists,
soldiers' mothers, war veterans, Catholic groups, and Boston
College alumni waved banners and chanted as they stood
behind metal barricades guarded by police. Some protesters
dressed in orange prison suits, with black hoods, to
symbolize the abuse of detainees. They carried posters,
crosses, and American flags. At one point, a plane flew
overhead trailing a banner that read: "Your war brings
dishonor."
Most of the
protesters had marched to the stadium from Cleveland Circle
roughly an hour before the ceremony began. Carlos Arredondo
of Roslindale pulled behind him as he walked a model coffin
draped in an American flag. Above his head was hoisted a
poster with a photo of his son, in uniform, in a coffin.
His son, Alexander,
was killed in Iraq on Aug. 25, 2004, and when the Marines
came to tell him the news, Arredondo set their van on fire,
stepped inside the vehicle, and was burned over a quarter of
his body. The Marines extinguished the fire.
"Her
coming here to accept her diploma when she has told the
American people such lies shows a lack of respect to our
community and the families who have lost our children in the
war," Arredondo said.
Some protesters said
that inviting Rice might have enhanced the college's
profile, but at a cost to its mission. ``There is a balance
needed between being recognized nationally and upholding
Christian values," said Jim Engler, a 1971 graduate. "Having
Rice speak crosses the line."
Jack Dunn, BC's spokesman, defended Rice's
appearance. "We honored her as an individual in light of her
life's accomplishments. That gentleman is entitled to his
opinions, but we certainly didn't do it for the sake of
national prestige. We are already a nationally prestigious
university."
©
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
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